There is no doubt that Dawn of the Dead is a very strong
commentary on consumerism and capitalism. Not only do the zombies literally
consume everything in their path, but the survivors do as well. It shows how
much consumerism is ingrained in our society even during a zombie apocalypse.
The zombies are the image of perfect
consumers. They can’t talk, think for themselves or have emotions. All they want to do is
consume humans. The scientists state that they do this because of instinct, not
because they want to or because they are hungry for flesh or because they needed to survive. Consuming is the
only thing they know how to do. There are also a few references that compare
the mall zombies to everyday people. Peter says that the zombies represent
themselves. This is where everybody remembers and goes here without even thinking. It is our instinct as a society to consume which is direct commentary on the culture we live in. If you aren't already a ideal consumer (zombie) there are so many around you that you will become one.
The survivors, while they don’t
consume flesh, they do consume almost EVERYTHING in the mall. There are three
montages of shopping sprees that take up almost half of the film. The first one
is when Peter and Roger get the idea to get supplies from the department store.
The second one is when they get rid of all the zombies and go shopping around
the entire store for items they don’t even really need. The third is when the
motorcycle gang comes into the mall and takes whatever they can get their hands
on. The survivors get defensive over “their” mall and start a shooting war with
the gang. They start to kill people instead if zombies over the material things
in the mall.
The survivors try to build a home for
themselves inside the mall and furnish it to create some sense of normalcy in a
situation that is not normal at all. They think if they can just stay cooped up
in their make shift home, and get everything that they could have every wanted
in the mall, it would be easier to pretend like the zombie apocalypse was not
happening. It doesn’t become about surviving, it becomes having things. The one
aspect that points me in that direction is the first things they get from the
department store are not water and food, but a TV and a radio. Those can be important
too but when it comes to survival, food and water are more important than a TV
and radio. The second aspect that sticks out to me is once they killed all of
the zombies in the mall, they decide to put them in the walk in freezers. BRO
THERE IS SOO MUCH FOOD IN THERE THAT YOU COULD USE! There were piles of fresh
and frozen food that were still edible until they decided it would be a good
idea to preserve their double dead zombie’s bodies in there.
The
more and more material things they get, the less happy they become. Money can’t
buy happiness. Material things cannot make you happy. It was very clear that
towards the end of the film, the characters were not as happy as when they had
went on their first shopping spree. This was probably the point at which they
realized the severity of the situation they were in with the zombies and knew
that at some point in time, they would have to leave comfort of the mall. They
had to leave the mall because if they didn’t, they were going to become one of
the zombies. One of the perfect mindless consumers. The sad aspect is that in an apocalypse, there is no where to run, because they are everywhere. The only way to permanently prevent yourself from becoming a zombie and the ideal consumer, is to kill yourself, like Peter thought about doing in the end, or keep running and trying to survive.
The bit you mentioned in the last paragraph about nowhere left to run because they are everywhere, I really like. That, for me as a kid, was a terrifying concept when I first say this movie. That no matter how fast you moved they were always either on your tail or just simply waiting for you at the next location. Now, as an adult, this sense of trying to get away but never managing to actually get away takes on whole new forms that are equally as terrifying. That you can never escape consumerism, capitalism, mass media influences, or the constriction money and debt put on an individual in real life seem to be the "real" zombies of contemporary American life. I think this film was made way ahead of its time considering the aspects of the American lifestyle it comments on.
ReplyDeleteRobin,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the different parts of the film you pointed out with respect to the consumerism of both the zombies and living humans in Dawn of the Dead. In particular, I really liked you pointing out the part about grabbing a tv and radio rather than food and water, as the quote preceding this decision is "Let's just get the things we need." It was pretty comical what items they chased after following that statement, Roger tying several shirts around his waist while hooting and hollering. It was definitely interesting to watch how the characters developed in regards to their respective moods, as the material goods overjoyed each of them at first, but as they grew more comfortable and gathered more and more things, they seemed to become complacent and depressed, wondering what they were doing to themselves. Further, the murder of other humans to protect material goods in a time when humanity needs to stick together was an interesting point in the film, though it perhaps shows that some are more weakened by material goods than others, as it's Flyboy that triggers the gunfight, and Peter who participates only to help him, while managing to escape in the end, unlike Flyboy. Nice post!